Tobacco companies fighting over claims on smoking's effects

Charles Dharapak

Published 6:15 am, Monday, February 23, 2015

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FILE - In this May 1, 2008, file photo, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler speaks at the federal courthouse in Washington. Never underestimate the staying power of big tobacco. In 2006, Judge Kessler ordered the nation's largest cigarette makers to publicly admit they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking. The basis for the punishment: Testimony from 162 witnesses, a nine-month bench trial and thousands of findings by the judge that defendants engaged in what the nation’s largest public health organizations have called a massive campaign of fraud. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)